Once you go cat, you don’t go back… ?

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“Once you go cat, you don’t go back!” 

It’s a frequent phrase you hear amongst cruisers. Suffice it to say, it’s not unusual to see people “upgrade” from a monohull to a catamaran. 

What’s the attraction of catamarans?

• More living space.
• More stable, no heeling.
• Big cockpit for entertaining.
• Shallow draft, can anchor closer to shore.

These are just some of the things that attract people to catamarans, and it is generally rare that someone would change from catamaran to monohull. 

But, as you know by now, that is exactly what we have done. 

Yep, that’s right. We’re those crazy people who “downsized” from a catamaran to a monohull. There’s not too many of us out there, but we’re there.

Catamarans are great! We are not here to knock catamarans at all. Our 1987 Richard Woods Flica, Snowflake, took us from Europe to the Caribbean very safely and comfortably. Much like a first love, she was our first sailboat. 

We purchased Snowflake in Southern Spain, sailed her around the Western Mediterranean for several years before deciding to sail through the Gibraltar strait, explore the Canary Islands and the Cape Verde Islands, and then across the Atlantic.

After a very calm and uneventful crossing, we made landfall in Grenada in the Windward Islands of the Caribbean. Two years later, we had explored the Eastern Caribbean Islands and were ready to venture further afield — the Western Caribbean, possibly through the Panama Canal and onwards. 

We hadn’t necessarily planned on selling Snowflake and getting another boat. Actually, the “plan” was to complete an engine refit along with a few other personal modifications. But as we have learned in this lifestyle, plans are written in the sand at low tide.

L. J. believes the moment when our “plans” started to gradually change was when I had the misfortune to step into a pothole while walking on a small Caribbean island. An ankle injury caused me to be immobile for months, delaying our refit plans. Sitting around, unable to walk or move around very well lead to what has been my vice since 2011… surfing sailboat ads online. 

In reality, it could be said that our “plans” had been on the cusp of change for years. While we sailed the Mediterranean, we had toyed with the idea of selling the catamaran and going monohull. This idea occasionally came up in conversation over the years.

While we loved Snowflake — she was a great catamaran and took really good care of us — we also knew that we felt the need for a smaller vessel for a few reasons.

1. We were only using half of the space on Snowflake, we rarely entertained or had people stay onboard. 
2. There were places we wanted to explore, which we would not be able to take Snowflake due to her wide beam.
3. We knew that if we downsized we would save money, and that is always something important when living on a small budget. 

One thing we agreed on: If we were to ever switch to monohull, we knew exactly the kind of boat we would get. Before we left the Mediterranean, we saw for the first time a Tayana 37 and it was love at first sight. The classic double ender design, the teak, and the overall salty appearance of the Robert Perry Design captivated us. Many times after that moment, the Tayana 37 would pop up in our “maybe we should get a monohull” conversations. 

So, while my ankle was slowing us down, it’s no wonder that I managed to grab L. J.’s attention when I happened across an ad for a Tayana 37 at a good price, only one island away. By that time, I had just finished physiotherapy and was slowly building up the strength in my ankle. Now that I was somewhat mobile, we couldn’t see any reason why we shouldn’t take a little vacation away from Snowflake to go check out a classic beauty on another nearby island. 

Little did we know that this decision would propel us into what was soon to become both an exciting and stressful time of our lives… We would further prove our insanity by becoming two-boat owners. 

To be continued…